The Digital Health Check, which will be available to the public for free, provides a multi-response questionnaire intended to evaluate their capability to seize opportunities in business world that is ever increasingly dominated by digital processes. The announcement follows the Government’s recent push to enlist banks to push businesses to sign up for its Help to Grow scheme. The scheme was intended to improve skills amongst SME leaders but has so far received limited take-up.

Upon completion, the Digital Health Check provides a digital readiness rating which is calculated from a set of simple questions that cover the current state of the answering business. Businesses are assessed across six key areas and are assigned a digital score to each area and an overall digital readiness rating. The tool then recommends specific solutions that are relevant to each individual business need identified by the health check.

Cashplus Bank is the first UK digital bank to offer this service which will be available to any SME via the bank’s website. Compared to the Government’s scheme which requires a minimum of five employees to apply, the Digital Health Check is open to any business, no matter their size.

This launch follows recent customer research by Cashplus revealing that small businesses spend an average of 22 hours a month on financial admin tasks. Tracking of income and expenditure, filing expenses and account reconciliation were found to be the most time-consuming tasks. The effective adoption and implementation of digital tools may help speed up these processes.

Rich Wagner, CEO and founder, Cashplus Bank said: “We know that small businesses, particularly start ups and young companies, have a lot to deal with and often face a steep learning curve in many areas of running a business. Today, digital readiness is one of the most important areas for small businesses to get to grips with if they want to succeed.

Our new Mastercard Digital Health Check provides our customers with a free, holistic review that gives them an understanding of where they are. The tool provides practical, concrete suggestions to help businesses get up to speed and is a great fit with Cashplus Bank’s simple approach to breaking down barriers for UK SMEs.”

The Mastercard Digital Health Check builds on the organisation’s ongoing commitment to SMEs in the UK which includes the recent launch of Strive UK - a programme designed to help the UK’s micro and small businesses access the support and tools they need to succeed in the digital economy.